25 Spectacular Movies You (Probably) Haven’t Seen

Midnight In Paris

Woody Allen’s latest places starving writer Owen Wilson in Paris with his fiancée, Rachel McAdams. Searching for inspiration for his incomplete novel, Owen begins taking strolls around the city at night where he discovers an unexpected group of people. I wish I could be more specific, but it would ruin the surprise. Know that it is brilliant, witty and full of mystique. 92% on Rotten Tomatoes (RT).

Let The Right One In

The best vampire movie ever made in my opinion. Let the Right One In is a truly unique story about a young boy and his new blood-sucking friend from next door. This film is a heart-warming love story with sprees of gory violence, which the director pulls off brilliantly. To say this movie blows ‘Twilight’ out of the water is a terrible understatement. 98% RT. Note: This film also has an American counterpart called Let Me In that is almost as good.

The Man From Earth

Holy &#%@ this film’s plot is fascinating! A professor gathers his academic friends and confesses that he is a caveman who has been alive since prehistoric times thanks to a gene mutation allowing his cells to replicate without error. This claim is of course met with much skepticism, resulting in some very intriguing conversation about mortality and the history of mankind.

Garden State

This is my absolute favorite film. Garden State is the story of an actor who goes back to his hometown for his mother’s funeral and starts figuring out what he wants in life. It’s chock-full of quirky humor, funny characters and ruminations on life. Not to mention the soundtrack is phenomenal. I recommend Garden State to every person I talk to about movies and have yet to hear a bad review :)

Waking Life

It’s impossible for you to grasp Waking Like without actually watching it, but I’ll do my best to explain it. The ‘plot’ centers around lucid dreaming with the main character floating around dreamscapes having incredibly interesting conversation with strangers about a variety of topics. Each conversation concerns something I would write about for the Mind-Blowing Concepts category of this site. Plus it’s all presented in trippy animated sequences. See it for free (legally) here
(Seen most of it, would've seen it all if it wasn't so late at night. Pretty good movie)

Closer

This film is a rather dark, yet comedic story about the twisted relationships between Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Clive Owen and Julia Roberts. Instead of going with the normal romantic-comedy theme, Closer shows the sinful, deceptive, human side of love and infatuation. If I say anything else, I’ll start to give some of the plot-twists away so just watch it.

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (Le Scaphendre Et Le Papillon)

A beautifully shot film from the first-person perspective of Jean-Do (Mathieu Almaric), a man who has everything before he becomes paralyzed in a car accident. After a painstaking recovery in the hospital, Jean is only able to communicate by blinking his eye. I really can’t fully convey how amazing the cinematography is throughout the film, nor how tragic the story is. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is straight visual art.

Sin Nombre

Sin Nombre is the intense story of a runaway gangster and a young Honduran girl crossing paths en route to illegally enter the United States. The film gives you a detailed look at life in Central America and the conditions under which people travel on their way to the American border. Lots of action, suspense, love, sex and a very climactic ending.
(This movie is in my top 3 favorite movies EVER!)

Snatch

Snatch is Brad Pitt’s lesser known Fight Club, except he’s an ever bigger badass in this film (if that’s possible). The plot twists around gangsters, mobsters and Pitt’s gang of Irish misfits and all of the conflict that ensues. Snatch is rather similar to it’s predecessor, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but provides a fresh spin on the multi-plot, mob-violence theme.

Spirited Away

I’m not big on animé but this movie is awesome. Written and directed by acclaimed director Hayao Miyakzaki, Spirited Away is the story of a young girl whisked away to a kind of ‘spirit resort’ where she must work her way to getting back to her parents. All of the characters are so damn creative and goofy. It’s a bit strange at first, but once you get into groove with this movie, you’ll be hooked.
(Not big on animé either like the guy who wrote this article, but this movie is awesome)

The Descent

This movie is really, really scary. A group of female spelunkers decides to take a weekend to explore an uncharted abyss they have stumbled upon. Little do they know that there is a race of uber-creepy creatures wandering around looking for food down there. The storyline sounds stupid, but the way the film is shot and how the suspense builds before the creatures are introduced makes for a bone-chilling watch. **Warning: If you plan on exploring any caves in the next few months, do NOT watch this movie.

Once

Once is the story of two musicians that meet by chance and begin to make beautiful music together, and subsequently fall in love. The two actors are actually the duo band, The Swell Season. Honestly you could just listen to the soundtrack of this film and get the gist of the plot, but the plot does add to the meaning of the lyrics.

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

Three escaped convicts make their way towards their stowed away riches in a spree of comedy & misfortunes. The three stooges-like trio narrowly escape the law, the KKK and their own impudence in their treasure-driven adventure. This one is laugh-out-loud funny all the way though.

Punch Drunk Love

Paul Thomas Anderson directs Adam Sandler in his most serious and impressive role to date. Adam plays a shy & damaged nobody who runs off with a woman and learns about who he is along the way. This dark humored indie-drama is highly underrated. Check it out!

Boogie Nights

Young Mark Walhberg plays an up-and-coming porn star in the 70′s and 80′s. Much comedy and drama ensues. 92% on RT.

The Fountain

Your jaw will drop at some point during this film. Hugh Jackman plays a scientist hunting for a cure to his wife’s cancer while, in a separate storyline, he plays out the main character’s role in the book she is writing. The two storylines intertwine in a fantastic way and ends the movie with the most beautiful scene I have witnessed in any film.

The Closet (Le Placard)

Ridiculously funny French film about a man (Daniel Auteuil) who pretends to come out of the closet at work to keep his boss from firing him. Of course this lands him in all sort of funny situations and conversations, etc. Daniel Auteuil can play the most awkward, laughable character, so he really shines in this role.

Mystery Men

Laugh your head off watching a ridiculous group of ‘super heroes’ band together to face mastermind, Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush). I think the best way to let you know what is in store is to list of the characters and their respective powers:

Ben Stiller as ‘Mr. Furious’ — Can become extremely angry on command

William H. Macy as ‘The Shoveler’ — Extremely good with a shovel. “Lucille, God gave me a gift. I shovel well. I shovel very well.”

Hank Azaria as ‘The Blue Raja’ — Can throw forks and spoons (but not so much knives) with pristine accuracy

Kel Mitchel as ‘The Invisible Boy’ — Can become invisible, but only when no one else is looking at him. “When you go invisible, you can just feel it!”

Paul Reubens as ‘Spleen’ — Can fart with the pull of a finger with deadly accuracy thanks to a curse from a gypsy.

Unique, clever & bizarre. These are the words I choose to describe Rubber — a film that follows an animate tire (yes, like on a car) that rolls are blowing things up with its mind. It has some other strange elements to it that I won’t event try to explain here. Just watch it! It will be unlike any other movie you have ever seen, guaranteed.

Kung Fu Hustle

Kung Fu Hustle puts a crazy spin on the classic kung fu film. An unlikely group of heroes, each with bizarre powers (the woman pictured can scream loud enough to kill people) goes up against an axe gang that threatens to overrun their town. Out-of-this-world fight sequences and strange plot twists make this film unlike any other action flick out there. 90% RT
(I laughed my abs off when i first saw this movie)

Magnolia

This movie is a trip to say the least. I couldn’t even begin to describe the plot, so I’ll let IMDB do it for me: “An epic mosaic of several interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning.” Paul Thomas Anderson directs Julianna Moore, Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, John C. Reilly and Philip Hall. The combo is just phenomenal.

12 Angry Men

The only classic film on this list, 12 Angry Men centers around the jury in a murder case in which one man strives to convince the other 11 jurors of the plaintiff’s innocence. It’s like a clever CSI episode from 1957 that also happened to get 100% on RT.
(Tis a classic. Nuff said.)

Enter The Void

This one starts off with the protagonist taking a hit of DMT (if you don’t know what that is, get ready for the most interesting Google search in recent memory) and the absolutely beautiful visuals that follow. Soon after, the guy is killed in a drug deal gone bad. We spend the rest of the film watching the after-math of his murder from the perspective of his soul, having now floated out of his body. Meanwhile the other characters reflect on consciousness and mortality in light of their sudden exposure to death.

Cash Back

A confused young man decides to take advantage of his insomnia by getting a late night job at the local 24/7 grocery. There he learns that he can somehow stop time with his mind. Oddly this power has little to do with the plot, which centers mostly around his search for meaning and the girl pictured above. If you like independent movies, you have to give this one a chance.

The Big Lebwoski

The Big Lebowski is, in my opinion, the funniest movie ever made. Jeff Bridges stars as ‘The Dude’ who is sucked into a world of crime and oddity after some loan sharks mistake him for a rich man of the same name and urinate on his rug. Words cannot describe how fucking awesome and hilarious the plot of this movie is. Do yourself a huge favor and watch it right now.

Comments

these movies are great lol. the big lebowski is hilarious. and let the right one in is actually really good too. swedish movie, they made an american version called "let me in" but it sucked compared to the swedish one. foreign movies have a different like attitude about their scary movies. they go for more creepy erie than just slasher thriller.

If youre like me, and want your movie to end with a bang, watch the Mist. The ending will literally have you thinking...for days. A lot of people have a problem against it, but the acting is brilliant, and it is a poetic finish. I highly recommend it just for the ending.

Well, the Fountain is the only one on the list that I thought was shit. But that is because I do not like artsy movies. I just watched Driven last week because of the reviews, and the movie was too much art, too little action.

The best ones on the list that I have seen are, in no particular order:
Boogie Nights
Oh Brother, Where art though.
Spirited Away
Snatch (Fight Club should be on this list too)

Well the list is called 25 Spectacular Movies You (Probably) Haven't Seen. So even though i think Old School is hilarious i can see why it's not on the list, since it's a well known movie. Fight Club i've never seen, even though i've heard it's a very good movie, but it's probably not on the list for the same reason as Old School

It follows a man who discovers a culling song in a book of poetry for children. This poem, when read aloud, kills those who hear it. He sets off to destroy all the books and encounters several interesting characters along the way. Great Read with an unexpected ending.

I've seen a few on TV, because they show them in europe. I do know some good movies but I am not really sure if they are available in english.

I've heard that that movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0349047/ is supposed to be available in english, this guy "Michael Bully Herbig" made a lot of really funny movies, which are supposed to be available in english, if they are in english WATCH EM

I think 0SS 117 should be on the list also. I don't know how many people have heard of it but it's a REALLY funny movie. It is in French but there are English subtitles. It's like....a funnier Pink Panther? It's funnier, has more action, and did I mention that it's funnier. What makes it even greater is that there a puns in the movie that WORK SO WELL IN ENGLISH. When you read the subtitles, it's HILARIOUS.

Strangely enough I have seen 22/25. I will check the other ones out. Also number three is also known as "Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth" as it may help anyone interested in finding it. One of my favorites on that list.

By the way you are speaking it leads me to believe you are only proud of your troops when they win. Yes we left. We left the battle, not the war. I am not sure if you know what war we were fighting when the Viet Nam battle broke out. As I recall you are a Brit. I thoughts the British would have more respect for a well organised gorilla army that fights for its home.
PS please do your best not to generalize America. As far as I know the US was the only country from America that had any troops in Viet Nam. I could be wrong but I don't think Brazil was there. If your not sure what Viet Nam meant to the US society then by all means ask.

i think it was all over america's fear of communists and how it would destroy her economy, if my history serves me. that was the very retard level basics of it. (calling myself a retard not you)
But 'nam is a good metaphor of how clever tactics can beat a very powerful advercery.

Being younger than myself, and being from a different part of the world, please tell me more about what is being taught. It would be interesting to see what other parts of the world know about this, and interesting what a younger generation knows about this. Very few people you talk to will know as much about the Cold War as I do. So please teach me what you were taught. I would love to know.

I am not sure i am with you 100%
you said
one of the main reasons apparently was that north and south Korea, 'nam were under communist leadership ect
I think you are saying that because of the spread of Communism to North Korea, the Allies, not just the US, wanted to stop the spread to View Nam. If that is what you are saying, you are correct.